Kris had our boy Cooper at the show in Marshalltown, Iowa this past weekend. On Saturday he went Best of Breed for two points! That puts him at 14 points, with his 3 majors from previous shows.

Didn't get anything on Sunday. So now he has just 1 point to go for his AKC championship. Oh, that dreaded 1 point to go!!! We have known more people who got stuck on 1 point for what seemed like forever. Keeping our fingers crossed for Madison, WI this weekend.

Karlin

2nd May 2006, 01:05 PM

:rah: :rah: :rah:

That is FANTASTIC news, Bruce -- you must both be so thrilled! We will all be cheering Cooper on in Madison from the virtual sidelines...

:mexwav:

Claire

2nd May 2006, 01:14 PM

Well done......go Cooper goooo :*nana:

Jen

2nd May 2006, 02:01 PM

Nice job Cooper!!!!! :w**h**:

Mary

2nd May 2006, 02:11 PM

Yay! You go Cooper. On to Madison for that one last point! :mexwav:

Bruce H

3rd May 2006, 01:06 AM

Thank you all for your kind words. Wish I had the picture they took at the show, but that takes a while to get. I took a break from my re-siding project (man, am I not as young as I used to be!!) and took a few pictures of Cooper on the back deck. The last picture is of him with Dottie. Dottie was also at the show, but didn't do anything; she just needs to fill out a bit yet.

http://static.flickr.com/51/139380321_877c7a80ac_b.jpg

Moviedust

3rd May 2006, 02:11 AM

He is very handsome! Love his ears!

I dont know anything about showing dogs or points. All I know is that the dogs are compared to the breed standard, not necessarily each other. (is that right?)

Would you mind explaining a bit more about the point system? I gather that the dog earns points that are permanent and carry over for his/her entire show career. It also seems from what you've said that once a dog has a certain number of points, it gains a champion ranking. These ideas are simply inferred from what I've heard on the boards. I am fully aware that I could be mistaken.

Claire

3rd May 2006, 11:02 AM

OMG his coat is beautiful, I can't believe his ears, next time you are brushing them can you send me them so I can stick them to Woody's - as they don't seem to be growing at all.... :yikes

Bruce H

3rd May 2006, 12:25 PM

He is very handsome! Love his ears!

I dont know anything about showing dogs or points. All I know is that the dogs are compared to the breed standard, not necessarily each other. (is that right?)

Would you mind explaining a bit more about the point system? I gather that the dog earns points that are permanent and carry over for his/her entire show career. It also seems from what you've said that once a dog has a certain number of points, it gains a champion ranking. These ideas are simply inferred from what I've heard on the boards. I am fully aware that I could be mistaken.

Yes, they are compared to the breed standard, not each other. In fact, if the judge decides that all the dogs are too far from the breed standard, he has the option of not awarding any ribbons and no one gets points. I've personally never seen it happen, but it is an option.

I have to get to work, so here's the abbreviated version of the point system; at www.akc.org there is a more detailed description:

In order to become a champion in AKC, a dog needs 15 points, including 2 major wins. The number of points in a show are determined by the number of dogs and bitches that are present in that breed and there are a maximum of 5 points. In this region, in order for Cooper to get 2 points, there had to be a minimum of 3 dogs; for bitches, there had to be a minimum of 4. In order to become a champion, 2 of the wins have to be major wins which are wins of 3 or more points, under 2 different judges. In the individual breed rings, the dogs show first and a Winners Dog is slected. Then the bitches show and a Winners Bitch is selected. The WD and WB then compete in the ring with each other and any dogs that are are already champions in the Best of Breed competition.

WoodHaven

3rd May 2006, 04:22 PM

The best male and female are chosen. And if there are enough dogs in each sex, they are awarded 1,2,3,4 or 5 points for each sex< the best male and female>. These are know as Winners Bitch and Winners Dog-- they go head to head for Best of Winners. Any champions entered are brought out for Best of Breed-- All the Best of Breeds go to their group (Toy, Hound, etc) And here you can place 1st thru 4th. The best of each group goes for Best in Show. Competing in the group ring is very exciting.
Sandy

Forest

4th May 2006, 01:32 PM

He is a real stunner Bruce. Best of luck for his continued success!
Julie and the girls

Moviedust

4th May 2006, 09:06 PM

Thanks, Bruce and Sandy, for the info. It sounds really complicated! It doesnt help that I SUCK when it comes to anything related to numbers. :roll:

Bruce H

8th May 2006, 01:05 PM

RATS!!!

Mary

8th May 2006, 01:33 PM

RATS!!!

Bruce ...does that mean Cooper didn't get his last point in Madison this weekend??